Urge Burundian president to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC
You can help encourage the President of Burundi to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court without delay. Please send appeals by mail or fax, preferably in French, to President Domitien Ndayizeye at the address available by clicking on the web link below.
ICC RATIFICATION CAMPAIGN
The target country this month, February 2004 for the Universal Ratification
Campaign organized by the CICC and Amnesty International is Burundi.
In April 2003 the National Assembly of Burundi unanimously approved
Burundi's ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court. At the same time it adopted a law criminalizing genocide, crimes
against humanity and war crimes in national law. However, the Government of
Burundi then announced its intention to make an Article 124 declaration
preventing the Court from exercising its jurisdiction over war crimes for
seven years. Following opposition in the Senate to this proposal, the
government withdrew the bill.
The ratification bill has, however, now been forwarded to the President for
approval. As yet he has not approved the law and sent the instrument of
ratification to the United Nations Secretary-General. Therefore, Burundi is
not yet a state party to the International Criminal Court.
It is unclear whether the transitional government is still considering
ratifying the Statute with an Article 124 declaration. Such a declaration
would in effect grant impunity from prosecution by the International
Criminal Court for those who commit the same war crimes in the future that
have caused immense suffering to the Burundian people for many years.
We are calling on the government to ratify the Rome Statute without such a
'license to kill' declaration.
Take Action Now!
You can help encourage the President of Burundi to ratify the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal Court without delay. Please send appeals by
mail or fax, preferably in French, to President Domitien Ndayizeye at the
Address below
H.E. Domitien NDAYIZEYE
Président de la République
Présidence de la République
BP 1870 Bujumbura
République du Burundi
Fax: 257 21 26 70
Tlx: 5036PRESIBU
For more information on the campaign, go to: